1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a connector locking structure in which a slide member having a flexible retaining projection is provided on a female connector housing, and the fitted state of male and female connector housings can be locked or canceled by the moving operation of the slide member.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 14, in a connecting structure for connecting a male connector 101 on the wire harness side and a female connector 105 on the equipment side, a lock arm 103 is provided on a male connector housing 102 formed of synthetic resin in such a manner that the lock arm 103 is formed integrally with the male connector housing 102 and, similarly, an engaging projection 107 corresponding to the lock arm 103 is provided on a female connector housing 106, whereby the two male and female connectors 101 and 105 are fitted with and locked to each other.
Especially, since a heat resistance property must be given to the female connector housing 106 on the equipment side, the lock arm 103, which is highly flexible, in most cases, cannot be formed of heat-resisting resin. Also, when the lock arm 103 is provided on the female connector housing 106 on the equipment side, the efficiency of an operation when removing the locked condition of the male and female connectors 101 and 105 is poor. This is the reason why the lock arm 103 including a removal operation portion 104 is provided on the male connector 101 on the wire harness side.
However, in the above-mentioned conventional connecting structure, since the lock arm 103 projects from the male connector housing 102, the male connector 101 is enlarged in size to thereby increase the size of the whole connector; and, because the lock arm 103 can be easily interfered, there is a fear that the locked condition of the fitting engagement between the two male and female connectors 101 and 105 can be removed inadvertently.